The present invention relates to rehabilitative exercise equipment and more particularly to an I-beam walk assist device that includes first and second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies, an I-beam having a first beam end supported by the first adjustable height I-beam support assembly and a second I-beam end supported by the second adjustable height I-beam support assembly, a gantry crane rollably mounted onto the I-beam and rollable along a section of the I-beam, a first and a second user controlled I-beam support assembly height adjustment winch in mechanical connection, respectively, with one of the first or second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies, and a patient harness connecting mechanism in connection with the gantry crane and having attachment structures for attaching a patient support harness; the gantry crane including a rollable trolley supporting a user controllable electric patient support winch having a lift/lower control device that includes an extend/retract switch mechanism for allowing an operator to extend and retract a flexible support cable connected at one end to a winch spool of the user controllable electric patient support winch and in mechanical lifting connection with the patient harness connecting mechanism; each of the first and second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies including a horizontal support member, an outer vertical support tube extending upward from a top center of the horizontal support member and having a tubular passageway therein open at a top outside tube end thereof and an outer vertical support tube surface to which a guide tube with a guide tube passageway is rigidly attached, and an inner vertical support assembly having an elongated inner slide portion slidably positioned in connection with the tubular passageway of the outer vertical support tube, a top plate mounted to a top slide portion end in connection with a respective first or second beam end, and an elongated lifting member in parallel orientation with the elongated inner slide portion, in mechanical force transmitting connection with the elongated inner slide portion and slidably positioned in connection with the guide tube passageway of the guide tube; each of the first and second user controlled height adjustment winches being in mechanical connection with a respective one of the first and second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies, and having a height adjust extend/retract control switch mechanism for controlling the direction of rotation of a height adjust cable spool and a height adjust cable having a spool connecting end in connection with the height adjust cable spool and a lifting member connecting end in connection with the lifting member such that when the height adjust cable spool rotates in a first rotational direction, the height adjust cable supplies a lifting force to the elongated lifting member such that the respective first or second beam end is raised and when the height adjust cable spool rotates in a second rotational direction, opposite to the first rotational direction, the height adjust cable supplies a lowering force to the elongated lifting member such that the respective first or second beam end is lowered; the height of the first and second beam ends being adjustable to the same or different heights by an operator.
It is often difficult for health care providers to provide the necessary lifting force to assist patients engaged in walking types of physical therapy because they do not have the physical strength to maintain the required lifting assistance needed by the patient to support the patients weight entirely or partially while the patient engages in walking type exercises, such as free walking or walking on a treadmill or the like. It would be a benefit, therefore, to have an I-beam walk assist device which would provide a caretaker with a mechanism for mechanically providing a lifting force to lift a patient from a seated position and which would could then be used to provide a weight support force to a patient at a predetermined individually adjusted height level, wherein the mechanism moved with the patient and, therefore, provided the weight support force to the patient along the length of an exercise run. This would allow patients connected to the I-beam walk assist device with a parachute harness or the like to rely on the weight support force available to them from the I-beam walk assist device while they used their own muscle power to provide the force necessary to move forward and backward along the length of the exercise run. It would be a further benefit to have an I-beam walk assist device wherein the I-beam may be oriented at an angle with respect to the ground so that the support height along the I-beam varies. When a patient walks toward the lowest side of the I-beam the support height becomes gradually lower, according to the angle of the I-beam, requiring the patient to support some or all of his/her weight and providing an exercise effect and a mechanism for gradually weaning the patient from the walk assist device.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide an I-beam walk assist device that includes first and second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies, an I-beam having a first beam end supported by the first adjustable height I-beam support assembly and a second I-beam end supported by the second adjustable height I-beam support assembly, a gantry crane rollably mounted onto the I-beam and rollable along a section of the I-beam, a first and a second user controlled I-beam support assembly height adjustment winch in mechanical connection, respectively, with one of the first or second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies, and a patient harness connecting mechanism in connection with the gantry crane and having attachment structures for attaching a patient support harness; the gantry crane including a rollable trolley supporting a user controllable electric patient support winch having a lift/lower control device that includes an extend/retract switch mechanism for allowing an operator to extend and retract a flexible support cable connected at one end to a winch spool of the user controllable electric patient support winch and in mechanical lifting connection with the patient harness connecting mechanism; each of the first and second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies including a horizontal support member, an outer vertical support tube extending upward from a top center of the horizontal support member and having a tubular passageway therein open at a top outside tube end thereof and an outer vertical support tube surface to which a guide tube with a guide tube passageway is rigidly attached, and an inner vertical support assembly having an elongated inner slide portion slidably positioned in connection with the tubular passageway of the outer vertical support tube, a top plate mounted to a top slide portion end in connection with a respective first or second beam end, and an elongated lifting member in parallel orientation with the elongated inner slide portion, in mechanical force transmitting connection with the elongated inner slide portion and slidably positioned in connection with the guide tube passageway of the guide tube; each of the first and second user controlled height adjustment winches being in mechanical connection with a respective one of the first and second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies, and having a height adjust extend/retract control switch mechanism for controlling the direction of rotation of a height adjust cable spool and a height adjust cable having a spool connecting end in connection with the height adjust cable spool and a lifting member connecting end in connection with the lifting member such that when the height adjust cable spool rotates in a first rotational direction, the height adjust cable supplies a lifting force to the elongated lifting member such that the respective first or second beam end is raised and when the height adjust cable spool rotates in a second rotational direction, opposite to the first rotational direction, the height adjust cable supplies a lowering force to the elongated lifting member such that the respective first or second beam end is lowered; the height of the first and second beam ends being adjustable to the same or different heights by an operator.
Accordingly, an I-beam walk assist device is provided. The I-beam walk assist device includes first and second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies, an I-beam having a first beam end supported by the first adjustable height I-beam support assembly and a second I-beam end supported by the second adjustable height I-beam support assembly, a gantry crane rollably mounted onto the I-beam and rollable along a section of the I-beam, a first and a second user controlled I-beam support assembly height adjustment winch in mechanical connection, respectively, with one of the first or second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies, and a patient harness connecting mechanism in connection with the gantry crane and having attachment structures for attaching a patient support harness; the gantry crane including a rollable trolley supporting a user controllable electric patient support winch having a lift/lower control device that includes an extend/retract switch mechanism for allowing an operator to extend and retract a flexible support cable connected at one end to a winch spool of the user controllable electric patient support winch and in mechanical lifting connection with the patient harness connecting mechanism; each of the first and second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies including a horizontal support member, an outer vertical support tube extending upward from a top center of the horizontal support member and having a tubular passageway therein open at a top outside tube end thereof and an outer vertical support tube surface to which a guide tube with a guide tube passageway is rigidly attached, and an inner vertical support assembly having an elongated inner slide portion slidably positioned in connection with the tubular passageway of the outer vertical support tube, a top plate mounted to a top slide portion end in connection with a respective first or second beam end, and an elongated lifting member in parallel orientation with the elongated inner slide portion, in mechanical force transmitting connection with the elongated inner slide portion and slidably positioned in connection with the guide tube passageway of the guide tube; each of the first and second user controlled height adjustment winches being in mechanical connection with a respective one of the first and second individually adjustable height I-beam support assemblies, and having a height adjust extend/retract control switch mechanism for controlling the direction of rotation of a height adjust cable spool and a height adjust cable having a spool connecting end in connection with the height adjust cable spool and a lifting member connecting end in connection with the lifting member such that when the height adjust cable spool rotates in a first rotational direction, the height adjust cable supplies a lifting force to the elongated lifting member such that the respective first or second beam end is raised and when the height adjust cable spool rotates in a second rotational direction, opposite to the first rotational direction, the height adjust cable supplies a lowering force to the elongated lifting member such that the respective first or second beam end is lowered; the height of the first and second beam ends being adjustable to the same or different heights by an operator.